The Official Athletics Site of Truett McConnel University

CLEVELAND, Ga. – Truett McConnell women's basketball (0-1) dropped its opening game at Benjamin F. Brady Arena with a 73-40 score vs. Talladega (1-0) Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lady Bears shot just 32.5% from the field and made just nine of 20 free throw attempts. They were out rebounded by the Tornadoes and lost the turnover battle by a wide margin with 30 turnovers committed to Talladega's 14.
 
Ava Queen was the top scorer for TMU with her first double-digit point performance of year with 12 points. She shot 2-5 from beyond the arch and cashed in on both attempts from the charity stripe. Queen was the boards leader on the team with six produced on the day.
 
The senior scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer in the first minute of play to put Truett up. A made free throw and a layup by Talladega's Ty'Vonna Davis tied things at. 3-3 before a jumper shot gave the away team its first lead. TMU took the lead right back with a Katie Martus three before Tashiana Farmer's second make of the game provided the Tornadoes with control.
 
Davis converted four free throws in the next minute as a layup and a free throw made the deficit eight with 2:32 left to play for TMU. The Lady Bears scored three more to decrease the gap to five at the end of the quarter.
 
Down 17-9, triples by Alissa Winters and Queen made it a one-possession game three minutes into the second quarter. A 9-0 scoring run by the Tornadoes quickly widened the gap to double digits within a span of two minutes. Down by 18, a pair of free throws and a basket from deep by Martus brought the margin to 13 with a 34-21 score at halftime.
 
The Lady Bears kept pace with Talladega in the third quarter but could not make up any ground as the away team held a 17-point advantage going into the fourth. In final quarter is where things collapsed for the home team, as the Tornadoes scored eight points off four turnovers to lead by 25. Truett was outscored 23-7 en route to a 33-point defeat.
 
The Lady Bears are back on the court next Wednesday with a road trip to Lawrenceville, Ga. To take on Georgia Gwinnett at 5:30 p.m.